The South Carolina Policy Council Archive

SESSION IS OVER … ALMOST The third week in June ended on a tragic note in the General Assembly, and attention has rightly been away from legislative business. In the interests…

According to companion bills H.4326 and S.868, pipelines for transporting petroleum products are “vital to the welfare of the people of this State” and, thus, the companies that own and…

S.861 would require pawnbrokers seeking a Certificate of Authority to conduct national criminal background checks for all owners, partners, members, officers, directors, and future employees. Current law requires only the…

H.4325 would require the Public Service Commission (PSC) to adopt regulations that enable and encourage utilities to negotiate with and enter into “provisional and conditional power purchase agreements” with offshore…

LAWMAKERS HAD A CHANCE TO ADVANCE ECONOMIC FREEDOM IN SOUTH CAROLINA. THEY MISSED IT. Lawmakers have introduced a number of bills this session designed to clear up the legality of…

S.849 seeks to regulate the duties of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). PBMs are defined as entities who contract with pharmacies on behalf of insurers, third party administrators or the South…

House bill H.4228 would condense the middle income tax brackets while leaving the highest and lowest brackets essentially unchanged. This bill would eliminate the 3, 4, 5 and 6% tax…

STATE HOUSE ECONOMICS, CHAPTER III On Monday the House Ways and Means Committee unanimously approved a standalone bill to appropriate $415 million in surplus revenue. The proposal is separate from the…

THE DISTINCTION IS VITAL, AND STATE LAWMAKERS ARE WRONG TO IGNORE IT A common mentality inside the South Carolina General Assembly holds that all private goods and services belong to…

H.4227 would eliminate a number of sales tax exemptions and would direct the resultant revenue to the state’s general fund. Some of the items that would no longer be exempt…

BILL WOULD MAKE FALTERING RETIREMENT SYSTEM LESS ACCOUNTABLE S.675 designates the Public Employee Benefit Authority (PEBA) and the Retirement System Investment Commission (RISC) as co-trustees of the assets of the state…

S.C. POLITICOS HAVE  PRODUCED AT LEAST FOUR MAJOR PLANS TO “FIX OUR ROADS.” NOT ONE OF THEM WILL ACCOMPLISH THAT GOAL. HERE’S WHY. How would a massive tax hike fix…

With the introduction of S.771, the General Assembly is once again resorting to excessive industry regulation in order to “protect the public health, safety, and welfare of the residents of…

A COMPROMISE? SURE. A COMPILATION OF ALL THIS YEAR’S BAD IDEAS? THAT TOO. Last week, a majority of Senate Republicans produced a compromise on the subject of road funding. At this…

S.759 is another attempt at Department of Transportation (DOT) “reform” that would only entrench existing legislative control over DOT. The bill increases the size of the DOT Commission (the entity…

H.4152 would cut all South Carolina income tax brackets by 1% over four years. The first 0.25% cut to each bracket would begin in 2015 and would continue for three…

STATE HOUSE ECONOMICS, CHAPTER II Following the governor’s lead on tax swaps, more than 20 Senate Republicans unveiled the outline of a compromise amendment to the Senate Finance gas tax…

WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM? WHO SPENDS IT? WHO ARE THEY ACCOUNTABLE TO? The debate over road funding has seen a number of outrageous and contradictory claims. On the…

There has been endless talk about “road plans,” but in truth there is no plan to fix roads – the only debate in Columbia is over raising taxes. The promises…

LAWMAKERS’ PRIORITIES: MORE DEBT, HEEDLESS INCREASES TO STATE COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES This week the state Senate is debating the state budget produced by the Senate Finance Committee. This spending plan, unsurprisingly,…

H.4081 directs the Legislative Audit Council to conduct management performance audits of every public institution of higher education in South Carolina every ten years on a staggered schedule. The cost…

H.4065 makes an exception for the mandatory retirement age of solicitors. Under current law, solicitors are required to retire at the end of the calendar year in which they turn…

S.649 would require all South Carolina law enforcement agencies to maintain a written policy for investigating officer involved deaths, defined as “the death of an individual that results directly from…

Companion bills S.650, H.3973, H.3990, and H.3991 all attempt to remove conflicts of interests and reduce public skepticism in the investigation of officer involved shootings. The bills seek to achieve…

S.647 would clarify that it is indeed legal for a private citizen to film the police in public. Citizens already have the right to record in public places. S.647 would…

 S.702 would give charter schools opening after July 1, 2015 the ability to administer enrollment preferences from an attendance zone specified by the local school district sponsoring the charter school.…

H.4056 would restrict contracting firms from bidding on DOT projects if a firm is owned, either fully or partially, by a trust that benefits a person, a person’s family, or…

H.4051 aims to amend the Constitution by exempting persons seeking to serve on the governing body of a public college or university in this State from possessing the minimum qualifications…

H.4042 could have a significant impact on the future of high school education in South Carolina. The bill would require successful completion of three high school-level “virtual learning credit units”…

S.201 requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to develop a process that prioritizes the maintenance, preservation, and rehabilitation of the state highway system and bridges. The bill further requires that…